The invention relates to a method of potting plants and to the combination that results therefrom. In order to insure optimum growing conditions for potted plants, it is desirable that proper drainage of water in the pots is provided so that the plant roots do not die and rot. In the past this has been accomplished by disposing rocks, pieces of broken clay pottery or vermiculite or the like on the pot bottom, or by disposing non-woven or woven substrates on the pot bottom (for example, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,866,352 and 3,675,368). In general, the materials that have been used for this purpose are materials that are otherwise useful for some other purpose and thus, are relatively valuable materials. These are materials which do not perform a wide variety of other functions when so used.
When used tires are broken up for disposal and reclamation of any valuable materials that might be contained therein, generally three components result, a rubber fraction, a metal fraction and a fiber fraction. The fiber fraction consists mainly of nylon, rayon and cotton fibers. The fibers essentially are less than half an inch long. Until the present invention, there has been little value in this fiber fraction; rather the fiber fraction was often a disposal problem.
According to the present invention, a material that is not valuable as a material that otherwise is a disposal problem, having little or no value for use in anything else, is utilized for plant potting. The material is effective to provide proper drainage of water through a pot while keeping the soil within and also accomplishes a wide variety of other functions for optimizing a potted plant environment. According to the present invention, a plurality of loose fibers comprising the fiber fraction from the break up of used tires is disposed in the interior of a pot, adjacent to the bottom thereof. The soil and the roots of the plant to be potted are disposed on top of this fiber fraction.
When the fiber fraction from the break up of used tires is utilized according to the teachings of the present invention, in addition to optimum drainage conditions for the potted plant being provided, there are many other advantageous results that ensue. For instance, the fiber fraction prevents the loss of soil through drainage holes in the bottom of the pot, provides a cushion for the plant's roots in case the pot is handled roughly after potting and provides a large variety of micronutrients to assist in optimizing the plant growing conditions.
It is the primary object of the present invention to provide optimum growing conditions for potted plants while simultaneously utilizing a heretofore worthless product. This and other objects of the invention will become clear from an inspection of the detailed description of the invention and from the appended claims.